Angel
by NeonZangetsu
Summary: She lay amongst the rain and waited to die. She was told that it was not yet her time. Saved by a mysterious stranger, she pledges her life to him to serve as his angel. Can there be such a thing in Amegakure? NarutoxKonan AU Fluff romance and EPICNES!
1. A Godlike Descent

**_MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE! I just read the manga and I was determined to write this little bugging event in any way possible. That, is how this little ficlet was born. What might have occured if a few wires were crossed, and if I decided to throw the timeline out the window altogether? To pair these two together by any means necessary? Well, that ship has just sailed, thanks to this little drabble that drove me off the walls all Christmas until I finally decided to write it..._**

**_Happy Holidays!_**

**_Angel_**

A young girl of no more than fourteen years of age was on her feet, her arms wrapped feebly around her midsection as her forehead rested pitifully on the ground. She couldn't believe that she was going to die like this; bleeding to death in the streets of her war torn home, while a nameless and petty thief sped away with what little she had of her belongings. Consisting mainly of a few stale and tattered scraps of food she had scavenged, and the most cherished of her belongings.

_"Oh,"_ She whimpered as she toppled to her knees, a bloodied hand grasping at the stone wall for support. "Oh no," she repeated, as though it would somehow wake her from this horrific nightmare that refused to relinquish her mind. She could feel her eyes growing impossibly hot, like they were going to boil out of their sockets and run down her face in place of the tears that already were. She touched a trembling hand to her lips, as if the small action could lessen the anguish that she was feeling in her chest.

_'Am I...going to die?'_

She clutched feebly at her opened stomach, and failed to staunch the steady trickle of blood as it coursed through her fingers. Grasping the hole left to her by the rusted kunai, she felt the hot and stinging tears rise to the fore, mingling with the salty and acidic taste of blood against her tongue. Her own blood. She stared down at the wound, and new at once that she wouldn't live to see the next sunrise, nor the end of this storm.

_'I don't want...to die.'_

She was unable to find words in her final moments, and knew only that no one would mourn for an orphan as she was going to sit here and bleed to death on the was crying and she did not know anything other than the tears. She could feel all of her failures in this life, all of her shortcomings and mistakes, all that she had ever done wrong, coing back to strangle her with those sick and twisted doubts that she had always harbored.

Somewhere, she could her dead parent's scornful laughter.

_'How… How did this happen?' _She blinked against the droplets, and tried to understand why her tears had suddenly joined the harsh and unrelenting rain of Amegakure. She had never been one to cry, her mother's death had all but taken the tears from her, and the demise of her father had violently ripped that last semblance of childhood from her only a week before. Baffled by this phenomena, Kona placed a trembling hand to her face, and was startled to realize while her eyes were yet moist, the rain had suddenly stopped.

_Curious_.

Amegakure after all, was where the rain _never _stopped.

Perceiving this sudden silence as her final moment of existence, she allowed her gaze to drift blearily skyward.

And then another sound tore through the air, a deadly rush ofthat she was more than familiar with.

The harsh thud of steel meeting flesh and bone.

One.

Two.

Three.

Silently, she counted the bodies as the crashed to the street.

Then another.

And another.

Finally she looked up, the once simple effort taking years of effort to accomplish, wobbling badly, just from raising her head.

A shadow filled her vision.

"Do not be alarmed." The low timbre voice rose from beyond the haze. Slow and steady footfalls–she toyed with the fantasy that they belonged to an experienced sage who had taken this path many a time before–drew to a sudden halt beside her. Illuminated in a sharp explosion of lightning, she discerned a tawny mane of damp and platinum blond hair. Dropping to one knee before her, she could easily discern the black visor that hid the greater part of his eyes and nose and face, leaving only his chin and neck exposed.

Her nose crinkled from the smell of anesthetic and...was that ramen?

"I'll heal you." he promised.

Imposing to anyone who might have beheld his grand stature, the blond must have recognized her puzzled expression, for at that very moment, he chose to remove his mask and visor. Stealing a glance at her supposed saviour she was well rewarded as the heavens flared purple and white once more. Young and no more than few years older than she, the face of her rescuer was revealed. Kneeling before her as he did now, the stranger held a bamboo umbrella over them both.

Forcing her eyes to open further, she could both see and hear the steady pitter patter of the rain all around her, yet none of the droplets touched her ragged clothes or her gaze remained sheltered behind a thin black cloth that had been wrapped tightly about either eye, ending in a thin knot to keep the wrappings in place at the back of his head. As she pondered the reason for this strange adornment, he ran a hand through his hair, showering her with moist and damp droplets.

Discarding the goggles for the time being, he gingerly removed the black cloth that shaded those eyes, and one hand upon the stinging wound in her stomach. Sparing her not so much as glance for permission to open the garment, he tore away the midsection of her frayed kimono.

She began to understand _how _it was that the rain had abated.

_Snick!_

She hadn't the strength to gasp out in surprise as the rain splashed across the wound, nor as he tore the strip of fabric away to leave her stomach bare. Handing her the tattered of his own sleeve as opposed to the ruined rag, he indicated for her to bite down upon it in lieu of the pain. Scarce had she done so when the storm resumed its inexorable march in earnest. Screaming into the black and soft fabric with all of her might, she had only an instant to take in the remainder of his features and the massive sword strapped to his back.

Slowly, even as he ran through a strange set of hand motions and seals, a second and less than thunderous explosion lit up the night. Within this brief flash of lightning, she beheld a _Hitai-ate _around his forehead, and the flak vest that identified him as a ranking Chunin. His eyes met her widened hazel gaze, before he pressed either palm flat upon her stomach and muttered the name of the jutsu.

She did not bother to remember it.

_Ba-Dump._

She felt her heart clench at the remembrance of _Shinobi_. They had always made Amegakure their battlefield. They had always waged war here, in her village. Who was to say that this blond was any different than the rest of those pitiless warmongers? What made _him _an exception to the rule, to those cruel and callous ninja who had slaughtered her mother, brother, and sisters' before her very eyes while she hid away in the cellar?

_'I hate them..._

She could feel herself panting for air like a fish out of water and somewhere up ahead, there was a prick of pain across her neck. She shut her eyes against the sudden rush of wind that did sail over her skin, and the dull vibration that grated against her clenched teeth. The hunger's hold upon her throat loosened, and that burning sensation emeantating from her raw and parched throat, finally of weeks and weeks of starvation, faded from her senses.

_'All shinobi should just die..._

Though she did not dare to voice this thought aloud, she still found herself livid. Not only at the prospect of meeting a similair fate, but at the cruel irony of it all. She hated them. She hated the shinobi, more than she'd hated anything else in this world. She wanted to wipe them out, to force them out of Amgegakure with their tails between their legs. But now, _now _one of them had suddenly become a good samaritan and taken it upon himself to save her life?

_'I hate them. Gods, I hate them. I hate the shinobi so much that I could just-_

As if he'd somehow sensed that brief flicker of darkness from within her heart, the blond smiled.

"Calm thyself." He reassured her upon finding himself the target of a feverish glare. "Medical Jutsu just so happens to be in my field of expertise." She heard his words and paid them no heed. This one was a Konoha Shinobi, and he was no different than the others. That he was being _kind_, was only salt within her wounds. She could not bring herself to speak for the bile and venom that rose up with in her throat and threatened to strangle her thoughts.

The gag certainly didn't help matters any, but when he straightened and spoke again, she was forced to pay attention.

"Left pocket, I think it was."

"P-Pardon?" She felt the gag slip from her lips, and suddenly realized that the left pouch of his vest was indeed open. No longer bleeding to death in the street, but still incredibly sore, she leaned back on her elbows for support as the Chunin took one hand away from her abdomen and reached into said pouch. Still maintaining the healing flow of chakra upon her body, he slowly removed a small and delicate looking object from the vest pocket.

"Here," He pressed the small object into her open hands, and did not say a word as her eyes shot wide with disbelief. "I believe this belongs to you." Awed, she cradled the beautiful work of art in one hand and held herself up with th other. Intact even amongst this dreadful deluge, he had proffered her a small and perfectly crafted paper flower. Beautiful beyond words, this masterpiece surely could not belong to a child such as her, or so one might think.

"You made that, didn't you." He let the statement hang, unadorned as he pressed the item into her trembling palm.

_"..."_

Speechless, she drew the origami flower into her chest.

"I am a friend."

She could not clearly see his eyes, but she was almost certain that they deliberately glanced up to the Leaf insignia borne by his headband.

"I hail from _Konohagakure_." He explained as though this statement would ease her sudden trepidation. "You have nothing to fear from me."Her eyes were open wide now, and she stared at him in an engrossed way, and had any other been present, she would have reminded them of a young child sitting on her grandfather's lap as he told her a bedtime story. Skeptical, but awed into silence both by respect and that imperceptible trace of fear for how the tale might end.

He spoke the truth. That was not the sigil of Ame on his forehead protector. She blinked up at him, both perplexed and captivated by this man and who he might be. Especially the whiskered markings that tripled either cheek, entrancing her further as she wondered what they might be. She drank in his every feature, and was startled to realize that this shinobi whom she had once thought to be a thirty-something man was not a man at all.

He was a God.

He smiled gently, and reached out to gingerly clasp her hand. It was that warm and gentle smile which finally won her over. A strange explosion of empathy exploded somewhere inside her chest. It was something she hadn't felt in such a long time and so desperately wanted to feel again. It burgeoned her, and washed the hatred and anger and sorrow away with the rain. It was the most and absolutely wonderful feeling she'd ever experienced. It felt like...

_Hope._

Fatigued though it was, her mind struggled to comprehend the phenomenon before and around her as she was bathed by within the heavenly radiance. Strangely, her body did not offer any protest to the healing chakra swept through her beleagured frame. Somehow, she found herself smiling as the luminance swept around her body and made her whole. She tried to form a reply to his words, but all that answered was a soft cry of pain.

"Sleep." he urged.

She sobbed softly as each jagged flash of searing agony faded from her body, and was immediately accompanied by a gentle sensation of warmth. Within the span of a few breaths this pain had all but ceased, and she was left to be basked amongst a warm and plasant glow. Torn apart by an unknown force, the coulds appeared to have parted for the one who now lingered over her and gently removed his hand from the once gaping fistula in her stomach.

There was naught but a patch of soft and pink skin in its place.

Dazed as she was, she could only stare as light and shadow continued to defy her attempts to see through him and identify him.

_She was moving._

Her body, limp and cold amongst the rain, was being lifted into the air by a pair of strong arms. They drew Konan close and cradled her in a loose embrace, pulling her against their owner and a damp and warm body. She blinked mutely as the green glow of healing chakra left her wound, her hands, and her entire body and left her rejuvinated in body, but utterly exhausted in mind and spirt. She was blinking against the black spots befor her vision, when the Konoha shinobi spoke again.

"I'll take you to my camp." He explained, cradling her as though she were as fragile as the flower she had created. "So please, rest for now."

Managing to turn her head from the gaze she had at the crying sky, Konan looked to her right, hoping to find something or someone there. Only now did she feel that old helplessness and it just had to be when she was held in the arms of a stranger and a shinobi stranger at that. She tried to send out a simple thank you, but the gripping and wordless emotions roiled violently inside her chest and kept her from doing so.

She was dimly aware of motion, of noise, of sound, and of chakra. Craning her gaze away fro the weeping clouds, she struggled to turn toward the sounds and their source. When she glanced at her side and found a shock of blond hair filling her view, she nearly began to weep once again. She hadn't the strength to fist her hand against them and still, she could not understand the reason for these tears of joy and sorrow.

How did they come to be?

"Thank...you."

The words rushed from her lips in a small gasp, and suddenly, she was sobbing. The strange Konohagakure shinobi did not tense in the slightest, but only cradled her in his arms, placing one hand up on the back of her head for support, whilst the other carried her just below her knees, in the way a groom might carry his bride.

He nodded but once.

"You're most certainly welcome, Konan."

She had just enough time to wonder HOW this stranger knew here name, before she toppled back into unconciousness...

**A/N: AU! NOT IN THE ORIGINAL TIME THIS STORY IS UNIQUE YA'LL JUST HAVE TA SEE WHERE I TAKES IT!**


	2. Dawn of Daybreak

**_OUCH AND OUCH! My head feels like its been, well, CUT OPEN and it has because of that blasted tumor! Anywho, I'm somehow still alive, and my brain isnt mush, so hear you all are as promised, while I still have a computer in hand (Although I just read the manga and I was determined to write this little bugging event in any way possible. That, is how this little ficlet was born. What might have occured if a few wires were crossed, and if I decided to throw the timeline out the window altogether? To pair these two together by any means necessary? Well, that ship has just sailed, thanks to this little drabble that drove me off the walls all Christmas until I finally decided to write it..._**

**_Daybreak_**

_'Where am I?'_

When Konan finally stirred, it was to the rich aroma of burnt bead and steaming cider.

She opened her eyes to see a dimly lit patch of stalactites, each of the dripstones jabbing down from the ceiling above her. She sat up with a slow and cautionary frown, only to fall back down to the hard ground with a dull thud as her back smacked against something hard. Her head whirled as an immense pain rocketed through her mind, practically pinning her to the ground. Reeling against this red hot haze, it was some time before she could think again.

"Honestly," Someone sighed from nearby. "Just as I was about to head out, too."

As Kona inexplicably began to fall asleep _again_, she spied a flash of white. A man in his mid-to-late thirties was frowning down at her. She returned the epxression as she saw two vertical lines running the length of his eyes and chin, the bloody trails looking as though they might have been painted on by hand. He too, wore the Konoha sigil on his forehead, the forehead protector glinting dimly in the limelight and catching her eye at once.

"Oi, kid!" He turned away, searching for someone in the blackness. "She's a-

"Urusei, Ero-senin!"

Someone roughly elbowed the man aside. A young man took his place, and it was with a hot flash of relief that Konan recognized him as her blond saviour. The cloth was still secured to either his eyes, and he inclined his head in a brief gesture of recognition. His hands trailed expertly across a number of needles before selecting the furthest from the right. Konan felt her relief trickling away into dread again as he flicked the stopper and a thin stream of bluish green liquid spurted out.

"This is an anesthetic." The nameless shinobi explained, nonchalantly backhanding Jiraiya when he staggered to his feet. Without skipping a beat or turning to consider his comrade's plight, the shinobi leaned forward and placed the tip of the syringe to Konan's arm. "Sorry, but this is just a precaution. I need to make sure you aren't well, you know-he scratched his head in a feigned act of goofballish not-smartness-_a spy or anything."_

Konan blinked numbly.

"Put her under, _now."_ A sibilant voice ordered. "I haven't finished the treatment." Konan had just begun to raise her head in query, when something pricked her wrist. Startled, she jerked away from it and became aware of the small pinprick on her right hand. A small syringe was withdrawn and cleaned. Hazel orbs shone out of a woman's visage, a young woman with blond hair, who peered down at her with a scrutinizing glare.

"Sorry." The nameless shinobi allowed himself to be ushered to the side by two masked men. "But I have a bit of business to attend to." Konan stiffened as she saw the two of them slap cuffs on her rescuer. He didn't so much as blink, for that carefree smile had yet to leave his face, even as his legs were placed in similar shackles. What had he done wrong? Why were they binding him and placing a sack over his head?

She strained to see further, but the woman moved to block her vision.

"You're going to be very dizzy in a moment." She warned sternly. "Just count to ten and-

Something pricked her wrist again and Konan never made it to ten.

* * *

_(Sometime later)_

Daring to open her eyes, she leaned back on her elbows and risked a brief glance beneath the thin sheets that covered her body. Embarassment flooded her face in a fierce blush as she realized that someone had replaced her tattered kimono with a more form fitting one, and a startlingly bright shade of blue at that. Pulling the clasp aside, she peered down at the wound in her stomach, and was equally embarssed and relieved to see that the wound was tightly wrapped in bandages.

Her skin itched and stung in places, leaving Konan with the strong suspicion that she had been given a bath while unconcious. She breathed in deeply, unable to find words to express her anger and annoyance as the baby blue tresses of her hair hung around her face in a damp curtain and shaded her vision. Exhaling sharply, she willed her herself to move and shook her hair out of her eyes so a better view of her surroundings might emerge.

_What happened? _she thought as her brain thumped painfully against the inside of her skull. _Where am I?_

She sat back up, much slower this time. Her head still ached ferociously, but she was able to maintain her upright position. She rocked back and forth, noting the granitewalls on either side of her. She squinted against a spot of harsher light, her mind immediately recognizing it as the mouth of the cave.

_So, _she thought with a small wince, _I'm in a cave?_

She attempted to stand, but stopped halfway through straightening her legs; the movements caused a bolt of pain to race through her head. In that instant, Konan remembered. That man! He was the one who had-Konan paused and shook her head. No, _not _a man. A shinobi. But this shinobi was different, she chastised herself for the brief resurgence of her anger. Her hand flew to the gauze and paused when it realized that there was no longer a gaping and bleeding hole lodged in her chest.

He had saved her life.

_That's right._ A small voice chastised her errant thought. _You won't find anything under there_. Konan bobbed her head in mute understanding. Of course not. He had forced all of her wounds to close and seal themselves into her skin. It was only natural that she find no trace of his an experrienced medic such as this man, would have checked her for any signs of infection. That being said, Konan uttered a small sound of disbelief as she saw how far the wrappeing extended.

She remembered falling through the rain and crashing into the street. Left to die as her soon-to-be-corpse had been picked clean of all that she'd ever held near and dear. She remembered that flash of blond hair. The man cutting down her would-be graverobbers as though they were helpless children. With but a single arm to defend himself and the other to cradle her agains this chest, the blond shinobi had cut them a bloody swath to safety.

He had torn through that curtain of rain and misery to wrest Konan free from that premature death. Now she was alone and in a cave, her strange saviour nowhere to be found. For this, Konan was oddly grateful. She was also reluctant. Everything about the camp, from the way pots and pans were haphazardly laid by the fire; to the second unfurled bedroll, told her that he would return. What would she say to him when he found her, awake and aware?

What _could _she say? He was so much more than a simple man, he was beyond even a shinobi. He was a god in human guise, and she, was a mere mortal. How could she find the words to express her gratitude to such a being? Konan felt her face flush again, and this time it was with shame. Why was her heart racing? Why did the the words stick in her throat, and refuse to form? This man had been able to march straight into the thick of things just to save a stranger.

To save her.

_'How could I ever hope to-_

_**Snick!**_

A bloodcurdling scream snapped Konan to attention. In light of that chilling shriek, she wrestled with a terrible decision. Fight or Flight? There were no weapons to be found It was coming toward her. something dragging over the bedrock floor, something either very large or very heavy. The harsh squeal of scuttling rocks and scraping metal; a harsh grating that drove into her ears, echoed deeply inside the cavern. Just beyond the entrance, veiled by a curtain or rain and sleet, she could hear something.

Coming toward her at a brisk walk, , long and labored gasps that smacked of desperation and despair, these she could make out, but rain was a veil that obscurred

"W-Who is there?" She cursed herself for sounding so helpless, but it was too late to retrieve the weak and fearful cry that greeted the darkness. She stared ahead, staring into the shadows for fear that they might become he worst nightmare. A streak of mottled fur skittered out of the corner, and Konan felt her chest deflate. The creature glanced this way and that, and deeming the girl before it as a harmless bystander, the mouse scurried back into the shadows.

Konan felt her cheeks begin to burn.

A rodent.

She'd nearly scared herself half to death over a harmless field mouse.

"H-Hello?" She whispered, and instead, received an inquisitive squeak from the field mouse. "Is...anyone there?"

Silence reigned.

Konan sat up on shaken legs, feeling as though she had lain asleep for days. Gazing up into the mouth of the cave, she beheld a dark and stormy sky from where she lay. Shrouded by the thin veil of rain the cavern's mouth was perfectly hidden amongst the rocksthe ever dark sky that was never anything other than stormy, Konan gazed up at the brooding clouds. Peppered by brilliant flashes of white and violet, she recognized the lightning. Punctured by a sharp and menacing rumble, the clouds themselves seemed to tremble as the thunder hastened after its brother in futile pursuit.

Awed by the majesty of the storm, Konan dared to take a tentative step forward. She tasted the salty tang of the ocean against her tongue. Blanching at the sea salt upon her lips, she risked a glance out into the empty air. It wasn't as empty as she'd hoped. For no sooner had Konan poked her head out of the hidey-hole, than a torrent of unbearably cold water slapped across her upturned face. It took Konan only an instant to retreat inwards, coughing and spluttering and rubbing her eyes against the stinging spray.

As she backpedaled, her foot glanced across something cold and sharp.

Eyes shooting wide and large with dread, she whirled and struck. Clanging loudly, the metal tray flew across the floor, richoceted off the blade and came flying back. Miracously, its contents remained unscathed despite their violent acceleration. Konan knew not what this material was, but as it spun to a halt at her feet, she regarded the sealed tray with a look of nervous anticipation. Mustering up what little courage she had, Konan forced herself to break the seal and peer into the container.

Konan dropped the tray. It clattered loudly against the floor, too loudly as the sound reverberated off the walls to deafen her. Konan wasn't paying attention to any of that. Her hands had flown to her face, as though they might stifle the gasp and disbelieving expression that had adjourned her features. Someone had lain out a meal for her. Consisting primarily of ramen, takoyaki and various other foodstuffs in addition to the aformentioned toast and cider.

Konan grimaced as the aroma elicted a soft gurgle. Her stomach whined planitively.

_'This is...for me?'_

Konan gave into temptation. Prideful she might have been, but she wasn't willing to pass up a free meal. Especially when said meal landed in her lap. As Konan desperately dug into the food, she did not stop to consider that it might be poisoned. This might be some elaborate attempt to eliminate what the whole of Amegakure saw as a 'freak'. But Konan knew she just _knew _that this food had been mean for her, though if asked she would have been unable to explain her reasoning.

Besides, if this truly was a trap and she _was _about to die, she had all the more reason to enjoy her last meal. Poisoned or no. Konan no longer held any inhibitions against receiving this feast. With this in mind, she renewed her assault on the tray with a terrifying fervor that would leave even an Akmichi thunderstruck. So focused was she on her 'last meal' that she did not notice the figure observing her from the shadow's edge.

Five minutes later, she dabbed at her cheek. The tattered white rag provided by her host soon stained itself a multitude of dark colors as she cleaned her now sauce stained lips. Thinking herself to be at least satisfied in body (if not mind) Konan laid the thin white cloth into the tray. Taking slow and deliberate gulps, she drank what little remained of the now cooling cider. Savoring the liquid for what seemed to be an eternity, Konan finally downed the liquid and politely laid the glass aside in the tray.

As the cider warmed her belly, Konan shivered against a frigid gust of frozen air and pulled the blankets tighter. Frost blossomed across the floor, slithering across limestone and bedrock as it creeped toward the campsite. Seeking shelter in the warmth of the fire, Konan edged closer toward the flames. Thankfully the enrcoaching ice only traveled so far as the cavern's mouth before receding. Was it really this brutal outside? Or had the fighting finally spilled over from Amegakure and begun to flow into the countryside?

Konan knew not, but she sincerly hopred that they were't anywhere near the battlefield. Before she could make another attempt to call out for her rescuer, the breeze blew a strange scent into the cave. Konan paused, the words dying on her lips as she detected the lingering scent of anisthetic and...was that ramen?

It came from all around the campsite. No, it wasn't coming into the cave, but rather...

That same scent smothered her skin. Konan abruptly lost the healthy pallor given to her by the meal. Blood drained from her face, leaving her lips pale and numb as they fumbled around the words and the realization that had so cruelly deposited itself upon her head. There was only one way she would have survived. She stole a glance back toward the unrolled mat, and suddenly realized that it was perfectly pristine and untouched, bound tight by a thick leather cord.

"But wasn't he-

She suddenly had an inkling as to _how _she had survived her bought with hypothermia. Winter in Amegakure brought no snow, but snow would have been much, _much _more preferable to the freezing rain that pelted her village every day and night. During the winter months, the cold killed more than the shinobi. Corpses, those of beggars, bandits, and shinobi alike, would freeze to the street itself, and there they would lay; picked clean of their belongings, until Hanzo-sama ordered them to be cremated.

Most children would have balked at such a concept.

Konan wasn't most children.

Such a purge often took weeks to perform, and every day Konan would have to wake and see those frozen corpses in their horrifically peaceful positions. Once, she had been naive enough to indulge her curiousity, that prickling urge to know if they were still alive under the thin film of frozen water. She shuddered at the memory of touching the delicate sheet of ice. Of watching the body within fall apart at the seems and expose weeks of rotten decay.

Ame Statue's, they were called.

It was the fate that awaited all those foolish enough–but in most cases just unlucky–to be caught in the winter rain. Unable to escape the cold in their shacks of tattered and battered leather, many of the poor villagers were exposed to the elements. If you were exposed, you were good as dead. Konan had been lucky to find a kimono to protect herself from the cold, but anything less than this thin tattered garment and you were doomed.

Sometimes it was _just _warm enough for you to actually _feel _yourself freezing to death.

Under normal circumstances, such a tale would have meant little-to-nothing when told to an orphan like Konan. True, she would have bleed out long before the ice claimed her, but death by any other means–grisly though they some might seem–was better than watching your skin turn blue and your body slowly stiffen as you fell into that final slumber. What made the story stick however, was that some of those corpses had been huddled around each other for warmth.

_Warmth._

She rubbed at her shoulders, and the scent of anesthetic and ramen came back. With a small moan of disbelief and incredulity, she doubled over. Drew her knees into her chest and tried to ease the sudden flare of agony, but she could have cussed out Hanzo himself, for all the good it did her. The knowledge was fresh and it was painful and it ruthlessly shattered the dam she had worked so hard to maintain over the years.

All those painful memories of death and blood and violence rushed past Konan. Grinding her teeth tight, she willed herself to ignore them all. Not only had that Konoha shinobi kept her from freezing to death, but he must have given her his blood. There was no other conceivable option that might warrant his sudden arrest and her survival after bleeding out in the streets. She tried to rise again, and once more, her numbed body refused to properly convey the command.

unexplained arrest. As such, it was not that sick and lonesome lack of self-worth that started the small hiccuping sound in her mouth.

_'He...saved my life.'_

Had pain been the cause of her tears, then Konan might have been able to grit her teeth and bear it. She was accustomed to pain. She knew how to accept and move past her body's discomfort. But this, _this _was nothing of the sort. Her knees knocked together painfully as she leaned her head against them. It was not sorrow that rattled her chest so, it was so much more. Trembling and shaking, she somehow managed to bury her head in the covers before the tears came.

She could never have imagined that fate might smile upon her in these harsh times. Seeking a distraction, she stole a glance back to the weatherworn weapon that stood tall at the cavern's mouth. It,

A massive sword, wedged between Konan and the exit. Large and foredobbing, the blade reminded her of a giant guillotine. To even comprehend the true length of the sword was beyond Konan. Only a man of incredible size and strength could hope to stir such a fearsome creation. And someone had, for the blade had been moved recently, and thrust into the earth. Konan could only imagine the effort it would take to perform such a feat. Even from this southern edge of the cavern, she coud see the fractured bedrock, easily burying three feet of the exceptionally large weapon.

A blue cloth trailed from the blades pole like hilt, flapping wildly against the gusts brought in by the sea-born storm. Konan was suddenly grateful that she had been lain at the back of the all it outward appearances, its fierce outer shell, the huge zanbato exuded a strangely calming aura. From its exceptionally long handle–wrapped in strange paper talismans the like of which she had never seen–to the odd hole in the middle of the blade, it exuded a calm and baseless aura, not one of bloodlust like its other companions. It beckoned to her, and just as she took that first tentative step toward it-

_BA-KRAM!_

The thunder was harsh and jarring within the confines of the cave. Uttering a small cry, Konan jerked upright and drew the blankets about herself. But it was not the thunder which had startled her so but rather, the grinning lad that now popped out of what she had believed to be an inc Fiercely embarrassed by the position in which she had been discovered, she glared murderously as the one who had frightened her.

"Hey," The word was unusually crass, coming from her lips. "What was that for!"

"Oops!" He chuckled, rubbing at a soppy mane of orange hair. "I didn't mean to scare you." He smiled charmingly. "The lightning can be pretty loud, huh?" Konan blushed and jerked her gaze away lest she lose her hatred for this crude boy who unnerved her so. So it was here and now that this inquisitive lad standing over her, drew Konan's attention. If looks could kill, then the boy would have been dead many a time.

Still, Konan honestly couldn't care less whereas the boy's identity was concerned.

She held nothing against him for being friendly, but neither had he endeared himself to her boy startling her so. That, and she'd dared to hope for a moment that this was the one who had rescued her, but no, it was not he. Her saviour did not have orange hair, and he certainly had a great deal more chakra than this. Simply put, Konan was displeased that she had been so easily frightened for what seemed like another false alarm.

And still, her rescuer was naught to be seen nor heard.

This irritation flowered into fuming frustration as he continued to apologize.

"Will you stop if I tell you my name?" She inquired pointedly. "Yahiko?" She stiffened as another spoke the boy's name in unison, but with a great deal of venom. Yahiko seemed to notice it as well, for he slowly turned toward the entrance and the sopping wet bootmarks that were making there way towards them in the rain. With a slow and heavy gait, they became visible within the frigid sheet of ice and sleet as they clomped into view.

"Yahiko," Someone drawled from beyond the light, "I _told _you not to wake her."

The youth suddenly seemed much younger than he actually was. At once, the smile slipped from his face, and his posture stiffened. Into one that Konan recognized. It was the tense and rigid stance of a soldier, and a subordinate Clearly whoever had spoken just now, was the true mastermind behind this operation.

"I-I wasn't doing anything wrong, Naruto!"

"Of course you weren't." The approaching figure replied in an all-too-knowing manner. "But you should let our guest collect her wits, yes?"

Another sound rose through the air.

It was a voice of the gentle sort, that she was more than familiar with. She froze, her skin crawling beneath the sound. Hazel eyes held no anger, no spite, no scorn, not even the faintest glimmer of disdain, as she turned and saw what some could only dream to see. All the money in the world could not buy such a sight, no, nothing could hope to place any sort of monetary value on the matchless scene that lay before her.

It truly was a sight for sore eyes, and Konan's stung and burned as though they might explode at the slightest provocation. Squeezing her voice and throat in an entirely different manner that before, her heart slammed against her breast, threatening to burst out of her chest. He tossed aside the straw had that had been shielding his face from the elements, and exposed his visage for all eyes to see.

He was behind her.

She didn't know what to say as he approached, grinning that crooked grin that so defined his tumultous persona. He'd simply appeared. Konan both realized and could not understand this, even now as her vision registered the fading distortion in the air. He arched a blond eyebrow in silent amusement and his lips quirked upward ever so slightly. atmosphere around him sounds and cries of surprise shattered the void that had been so deafeningly present only moments ago. Konan offered only a small sound of disbelief as he stepped forward and tenderly looped an arm around her waist. Indulging in a rare moment of weakness, she flung either arm around his neck, refusing to care as he staggered back in surprise.

A harsh flash of lightning lit the cave.

Konan blinked furiously against the light, forcing herself to resist blindness. As the incredible flare faded, she beheld a young man. Unlike Yahiko, this one was a slender and very well armed individual, as the multitude of scrolls strapped to his arms ands legs would certainly attest. He lingered at the entrance for a moment, as though he were reluctant to enter. But only for a moment, as he decided to forgoe whatever concern it might have been and trapse into the hideout.

He was a slim lostanding at the entrance. Neither of them had been standing there prior to Yahiko's outburst. She felt her spine stiffen as she saw him smile. If the glint of perfect teeth and whiskered cheeks were not enough, than his cocky glide betrayed the young sir long before he made it inside. Obviously the owner of said sword, he reached forward as he walked by and smoothly withdrew the sinister cleaver from the soil.

Bringing the broadsword about in a wide and sweeping arc, he slipped it into the harness secured flush at his back under his cloak.

A cold chill settled upon her shoulders.

"Na-ru-to?" the name felt strange and foreign on her lips. "Is that...your name?"

An aggravated sigh exploded from the darkness.

"Well, since _someone _decided to ruin the suspsense...yes, my name is Naruto." The Chunin glared balefully at Yahiko, who paled and turned aside from the ravishing stare. "Uzumaki Naruto," He turned toward Konan and suddenly that smooth and flawless mask was back in place. "Former Chunin and newly instated Jonin at your services." Konan slammed the lid down on that line of thought, but she could not silence the cry that had already escaped.

His eyes.

How on earth could he see when his eyes where like that? For the first time she saw the scars. The left had a vicious trio of jagged lines running down its length, and the right, looked as if it had been slashed vertically, then horizontally leaving a mocking parody of a crucifix. Sometime in the last few hours, he had placed a white cloth over them, in favor of the black. She knew at once that those red stains were anything other than blood.

They matched his outfit.

She glanced at him, finally aware that he had traded his flack jacket for a black robe. Long and flowing, it stopped just above his ankles, and it bore the strange sigil of a red nimbus woeven into this fabric itself. Removing his hands from the long sleeves and equally high collar, Naruto shifted his weight. Beneath it, Konan could still see the outline of his armor and weaponry, though the cloak did more than mask the small armory bristling underneath.

He reminded her of a modern-day mercenary, if not for the Konoha headband still worn proudly across his forehead. It reminded Konan of a killer-for-hire and the concept more than unnerved her. That this man who was so much more than a man, might have taken that path. She would never have encountered him. She would have perished in the streets, just another nameless victim of The Great Shinobi Wars.

But this was her Naruto. She suddenly felt possesive of the stranger that had saved her.

Her Naruto.

That crazy, loud, goofy, stupid, handsome, wonderful, sexy-

"You're wondering if I'm blind." Naruto interrupted her musings, his statement hanging unadorned as he ambled in the cave. "Aren't you, Konan-san." Ashamed, Konan felt a sharp and agonizing stab of guilt. Blind or not, he did not deserve such prejudice. Certainly, after all he had done. After saving her life. Hurt by her own stupidity and the silent rebuttal, Konan began to turn away. A hand turned her back toward Naruto, eliciting a brief blink of surprise from the girl as he gently tousled her head.

"You really should do something about your hair." His lips quirked into a crooked smirk. "But a blind man shouldn't be able to see that now, should he?" Inadvertantly, Konan found her hands straying to the loosened locks of her hair. They clenched at the glaring abscence of her crumpled flower-piece. Running her hands through those pale blue locks, the events of that stormy evening returned with a swift and furious fervor.

She blushed as she saw that infamous half smile pull his lips into a crooked grin, and pressed gently against her forehead. Konan had never seen him smile before, but she was suddenly willing to kill for it, so that she might see it time and time again.

"Say, where's Ero-senin?"

Naruto pulled back, leaning away on his haunches and beckoning to Yahiko. Konan noted with some disparity that the boy did not wear the same outlandish attire as his partner. Rather, the boy had opted for something more practical, and tapered his cloak down to compensate for his build, and without the clouds. What's more, the lad was grinning as though he were just itching to share some great and terrible secret.

"Dunno." He snickered, much to Naruto's ire. "You were the one who tossed him in that cell the minute he let you out,remember?" Naruto palmed him across the head. "Ow! Do you have to keep doing that, damnit!" The Jonin's eyes seemed to narrow beneath the cloth, and Yahiko went silent. "O-Oi! Don't give me that look! I didn't do anything wrong!" Naruto continued to stare at his accomplice for what seemed like an eternity, until finally he had elicited a mumbled apology.

Konan was not nearly so impressionable.

"You have a bloodline limit." She stared pointedly at Naruto, finding her voice for the first time. "Don't you, Naruto-san." Naruto feigned a wounded expression, before a small and amused chortled did part his lips again. But if Konan had been expecting him to divulge the secret behind his eyes, than she was to be sorely dissapointed. Instead, the Leaf shinobi straightened, and turned too address Yahiko with a stern tone.

"Yahiko...where's Nagato?"

The boy, who had to be only a year younger than his leader, shrugged mutely. Naruto relented after a few moments of silent staring, and turned back to Konan. He stared at her, or at least seemed to be staring. Konan stared back in disbelief, feeling as though he were somehow looking through her and discerning her darkest secrets. After a time, Naruto smiled and turned himself halfway toward the mouth of the cave, where a young boy with red hair could be seen sitting amongst the crates.

"Oi, Nagato-

He looked as though he had considered introducing the redhead, but obviously reconsidered when the boy said nothing.

"Anyway, about my eyes...

Konan was enrapt with attention.

"My eyes...are special." Konan saw the closed lids shift ever so slightly, as though the iris had moved beneath his lids. He extended a hand to her. Before Konan could stop herself, she had accepted his assitance. Stumbling upon rising, she made a small sound of disbelief as those strong arms drew her into a chest that smelled of anesthetic and ramen. Some part of her mind, the side of logic and reason, screamed for her to release this strange shinobi.

"They're also the reason I brought you here."

She chewed at her lip, and buried her head in his chest, something that seemed to surprise Naruto. He released her and embarassed, Konan took a small step back, allowing him to rest one hand on her shoulder and the other, just under her chin. It was surpsingly soft she realized, as an arm gently reached out to mold around her back and form a soft hold upon her. His face was blank and stoic when he decided to continue.

"I'm going to teach you guys ninjutsu." Naruto announced this so suddenly that even the redheaded boy abruptly perked up. Naruto inclined his head toward Nagato, a knowing smile adjourning that whiskered face. "Yes, ninjutsu. For as of this day, I am creating a new _organization."_ Reaching his hand away from Konan, he began to unwind the wrappings about his eyes. "It's name shall be that of Akatsuki, and _Akatsuki _will have three goals."

"First, we _will _stop the tears of Amegakure."

The tattered cloth slipped to the floor as the three orphans looked on.

"Second." Naruto began to pull at the paper seal taped over his eyes. "We _will _protect our friends."

"Third." Naruto announced, tearing the binding away with an vehement shout. "We _will _create peace!"

Everyone froze as a pair mismatching eyes greeted the world. One, a pale lavender gem with no iris, normal as one would expect, were it not for the veins pulsating from it upon activation. In contrast to its companion, the right was a deep charcoal black. Veins throbbed explosively as it opened and flared a deep and viscious and scarlet. This ruby red gem possesed three black tomoe wedged into the crimson, and it was just as well known here, as it was there.

"These are my eyes." Naruto explained, closing them promptly as Konan and the boys looked on. "Now, what do the three of you say?" He waited pointedly for their answer with mismatching orbs of black and lavender. "Will you join me?" He folded his arms in either sleeve and proceeded to walk back toward the glimmering fire. "Any of you?" He didn't bother to turn as one, two, and finally three pairs of feet followed him back to the fire.

A small smile graced his lips.

"Well, I suppose I should go let sensei out of that cage now...huh?"

A chorus of raucous laughter filled the hideout.

**A/N: Sorry folks, hope ya'll liked it! **


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